Renal cell carcinoma has been referred to as renal cancer or adenocarcinoma of the kidney. There is no uniformly satisfactory treatment for metastatic adenocarcinoma of the kidney. This remains a major problem in therapy, since as many as 50% of patients have evidence of metastic disease.
Hormonal therapy has been employed in the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma based upon the estrogen dependency of renal tumors in an animal model. A recent review of hormone therapy showed a response rate of 2% among 415 patients. Hruskesky W. J. and Murphy GP: "Current Status of Therapy of Advanced Renal Carcinoma", J. Surg. Oncol., Vol. 9, p277-288 (1977) cited in the Comprehensive Textbook of Oncology, Moossa, A. R. editor, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, Md. p889-900 (1986).
Surprisingly, N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutaminyl-L-alanine-2-(1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-g lycero-3-hydroxyphosphoryloxy)ethylamide monosodium salt was found to reduce the size of lesions in a patient with renal cell carcinoma with multiple small pulmonary metastases.
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is the treatment of renal cell carcinoma.